The present invention generally relates to medical instruments, and more particularly to a multi-function, flexible endoscope apparatus designed for the diagnosis, treatment, and analysis of tissues within a body cavity.
In order to properly administer medical care to a patient, it is often necessary for a physician to conduct an internal investigation of the patient's body tissues and air/fluid cavities associated therewith. Frequently, this requires surgical entry into the patient's body cavities for diagnostic and treatment purposes. This may be accomplished through the use of an apparatus known as an "endoscope" which basically consists of a diagnostic, imaging, and therapeutic instrument designed for entry into various cavities of hollow organs/tissue regions to facilitate the observation and analysis thereof. The use of an endoscope to perform endoscopic examinations and treatment is important in a number of medical fields. For example, endoscopy of the inner ear may often be necessary in order to diagnose, measure, and/or treat a number of different otological conditions as generally described in Arenberg, I., "Overview of Inner Ear Disease", The American Journal of Otology, 8(3):189-194 (1987) which is incorporated herein by reference. For example, within the inner ear, it is often necessary to surgically insert multi-channel cochlear implants within patients who have experienced profound hearing loss caused by cochlear obstructions. The cochlea consists of a spiral tube in the inner ear which contains nerve endings essential for proper hearing. With respect to the cochlear implantation process, the use of a flexible fiber optic endoscope is disclosed in Balkany, T., "Endoscopy of the Cochlea During Cochlear Implantation", Ann. Otol. Rhinol. Laryngol, 99:919-922 (1990). Specifically, in this article, endoscopy was found to be helpful in visualizing obstructed cochlear segments, determining patency after the removal of cochlear obstructions, and identifying normal cochlear structures in order to better seat cochlear implants.
There are a wide variety of different medical applications for which endoscopy is appropriate and necessary. Furthermore, many types of endoscopes have been produced which include a variety of different features. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,589,404 and 4,754,328 to Barath et al. disclose a laser endoscope having optical fibers designed for laser light delivery and an optical fiber bundle for viewing images from within a body cavity.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,992 to Sato discloses an endoscope system which includes a CCD (charge coupled device) camera designed to supply video images to a television monitor. The endoscope system further includes fiber optical systems connected to illumination and laser light delivery sub-systems. A similar CCD endoscope system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,562 to Eino and U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,841 to Murakoshi et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,695 to Goldman et al. discloses a medical treatment apparatus which includes an optical fiber for illuminating tissue, an optical fiber for delivering laser light (used to treat the tissue), an electrode for producing an electrical field at or near the tissues of concern, and an optical phase conjugator unit for improving the quality of visual images generated within the system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,653 to Shturman involves a catheter system which includes an imaging optical fiber, a laser delivery fiber, internal torque wires, and various conduits therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,332 to Buess et al. discloses a binocular endoscope system having a plurality of passages therein, as well as a pressure sensor and fiber optic viewing system.
Other endoscope-type devices are illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,702,571 to Barber; 4,061,135 to Widran et al; and 4,901,142 to Ikuno et al.
The present invention as described herein represents a flexible endoscope device which is substantially different from the foregoing devices. Specifically, the invention satisfies an existing need for an endoscope system which is especially suitable for use in very small body cavities (e.g. within the inner ear) wherein the endoscope system includes a multitude of functional capabilities ranging from temperature and fluid pressure sensing means to highly advanced viewing, imaging, and micro-manipulation sub-systems. Likewise, the invention enables therapeutic laser light to be accurately delivered to internal body cavities and tissue regions as desired. Accordingly, the present invention represents an advance in the art of medical instrument design, as described in greater detail below.